Police Explorers Honored at Annual Awards Dinner

Several members of the Vernon Police Explorers Post 800 were recently honored at the unit's annual awards dinner at the Elks Lodge.

Guest speakers included head adviser Lt. William Meyer of the , Police Chief James Kenny, Explorers Committee Co-Chairman Carl Slicer and Deputy Mayor Brian Motola.

Motola read a commendation from the administration thanking the Explorers for their help at public events. Their responsibilities include traffic control.

Award winners include:

Tenure Award - A red commendation bar awarded to Explorers in the post for at least one year:

• Nathan Manley
• Isabel Ortiz

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Community Service Award - Given to an Explorer who has completed 100 hours of community service during the past year:

• Capt. Austin Agnew (from Ellington) - 113.3 hours
• Lt. Monica Ferrara (from Ellington) - 117.45 hours
• Sgt. Cody Fongemie (from Ellington) - 117 hours

Perfect Attendance

• Austin Agnew
• Cody Fongemie
• Nathan Manley
• Megan Pare
• Isabelle Ortiz

Academic Award - to the top scholar:

• Nicole Ciampa - 98 average.

Service Award - Given to members of the post who have served four years and are either retiring or moving to senior Explorer status:

• Andrew Mezrioui
• Austin Agnew
• Monica Ferrara
• Nicole Ciampa
• Rachel Hardy (from Ellington)

The Slicer/Hoffman Scholarship

• Nicole Ciampa

Explorer of the Year - The top honor, awarded to an Explorers for dependability, attitude, attendance and contributions to the post, the police department and the community:

• Nicole Ciampa

This year, the Vernon Explorers received a top award at the annual regional Stations Day competition.

Vernon was named the best overall team in Overall in Random Events. The award is given to the explorer group that wins the most awards in the team stations competitions. It is one of the top awards given at the competition.

The post draws its members from Vernon and Ellington.